One small decision can derail a life. A decision that seems so innocuous at the time can make everything

come crashing down around you. In Janice Mahan's case, this small decision came on an unseasonably

warm February day in 1985 when she told her husband to let her daughter Cherry walk up the

150-foot driveway from her bus stop to the

house after school. No, it's a nice day, let her walk, Janice told him. But somehow, in that short

distance, something happened to Cherry, something that no one saw, something that 35 years later remains a mystery.

When a person goes missing, there's a special kind of pain in the not knowing.

I want to tell the stories of those who never came home.

I want to tell you the story of Cherry Mahan.

I'm Conagalliger.

And I'm Ethan Flick.

And this is, and then they were gone. Cherry Mahan was born on August 14, 1976 to Janice Mahan.

Janice was only 16 years old when Cherry was born, and according to Janice,

Cherry was actually the product of a rape.

However, she says no one believed her, so Cherry's biological father, whom she knew, was never

charged with any crime.

Despite the terrible circumstances around Cherry's conception, Janice threw herself into motherhood.

She told Katie, Kaya, the Pittsburgh CBS affiliate, quote, I never left

that house without her. We were always together. We grew up together. She was my life. When Cherry was

small, Janice met and fell in love with Leroy McKinney and the pair married. McKinney became the

father that Cherry never had and the trio lived a quiet, happy life in Butler County, Pennsylvania.

In 1985, Cherry was a spunky eight-year-old third grader. On February 22, she rode the school bus home

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